I dashed from the upper lecture theatre to the main one downstairs for the 2pm talk by Dr Saad Masry on the subject: Honey: An Indicator of Environmental Pollution. The hall was not nearly as well-filled as it was for most of the lectures.Maybe elderly beekeepers were taking a post prandial nap in their cars. Dr Masry is from Egypt and this was his first ever lecture in English we were told. I must confess that I found him difficult to understand and, for once, I was grateful for the powerpoint.

Reasons why bees are good indicators are their high mortality; they’re easy to keep and breed; hairy bodies; fast reproduction; mobility and flying range; materials are brought by them to the hive; low management costs. They have a strong interaction with the environment averaging about 10 flights a day.

In Egypt, examination of honey shows that there is much contamination from heavy metals: copper, lead and zinc. There are also contaminants in the water. Contamination levels varied with distance from a main road. Hmmm.. that last point might interest the myriads of London beekeepers!

It is interesting that they bring in heavy metals. Dimly, I remember that, some years ago, a beekeeper, probably Jerry Bromenshenk, used bees for gold prospecting in California by examining the pollen they brought in.

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About chrissladesbeeblog

I have been keeping bees since 1978 and currently have about a dozen hives. I am a member of the BBKA where for many years I represented Dorset at the Annual Delegates' Meeting. I am the co-author (with Dave MacFawn of of S. Carolina) of "Getting the Best from Your Bees" and am working on a book of my own poems : "Bee People".

One Response to BACK TO THE LECTURES

Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed reading it, you may be a great author.
I will always bookmark your blog and definitely will come back in the foreseeable future.
I want to encourage you to ultimately continue your great work,
have a nice weekend!